HOUSTON – A Houston Community College student is in jail after being accused of threatening to shoot his classmates, court records show.
Cory J. Brown, 32, is charged with making a terroristic threat. According to court records, HCC police claim that Brown walked to the front of his classroom on the school's central campus Wednesday and began verbally threatening his teacher and classmates.
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"You have to take everything seriously," said student Justin Edwards. "A threat is no joke when you're threatening somebody's life. It's kind of disturbing with all the stuff that's going on right now."
Brown, who was unarmed, ran out of the classroom without injuring any other students. HCC police said that officers caught and arrested Brown minutes later off-campus.
"If it comes out of your lips and it is heard by someone," said HCC Chief Communication Officer Dan Arguijo. "We will act on that verbal outburst or those statements. Since the Virginia Tech incident, we have made sure that we've equipped ourselves with the latest safety measures. Faculty and staff have been trained in behavioral training."
No motive has been given for the alleged outburst.
"But any outburst is not going to be tolerated at HCC," said Arguijo. "Thank God we had this kind of response and this kind of outcome."
According to records, this incident isn't Brown's first run in with the law. He has a long criminal history with convictions that include selling drugs, assault, attempted theft and most recently in 2008, being a felon in possession of a firearm.
More than 75,000 students are enrolled throughout HCC's six colleges and 42 campuses.
Brown is next scheduled to appear in court July 19.